Elektrovat invests EUR 1.6 million in SNE Energy - Electric equipment from Cacak to conquer SEE market

Construction of facilities in line with energy-efficiency standards has been a global trend over the last few years. Only few buildings in Serbia meets these criteria. One of them is the smart factory SNE Energy, ceremoniously opened on 12 December 2012 in Cacak, where medium-voltage electric equipment is being produced under license from the multinational Schneider Electric.

This factory is a product of 11-year strategic partnership between the Elektrovat company, which has been operating for more than 20 years in the fields of electrical engineering and production process automation and management, and Schneider Electric, a global leader in the domain of electricity and automation management.

Elektrovat founded SNE Energy last year in order to expand its production, while production in the existing factory facilities of the founder started as early as at the beginning of this year. Construction of a new 1,550 square meter business and production facility kicked off March 2012, and the whole production was moved to that facility as early as in late September.

- We've practically opened two factories. The one producing a new range of products is on the first floor, whereas the old production is underway on the ground floor. In that way, we have significantly boosted our production capacity - says Jugoslav Milosevic, director of Elektrovat.

This factory is assembling the complete product range of world-renowned medium-voltage electric equipment – RM6 ring main units (RMU) and SM6 switchgear modular units allowing for remote control of substations.

- Aside from their common use in the electricity sector, these units can also be used in the industry and large facilities, such as shopping malls, hospitals, hotels, solar farms, hydroelectric power stations - says Dragoljub Damljanovic, director of Schneider Electric.

The value of this project is EUR 1.6 million, part of which was provided by Elektrovat, whereas the rest came from business banks that on-lent the money from European funds for the improvement of market competitiveness through the enhancement of workers' living and working conditions.

The factory meets all technological requests of Schneider Electric, with its interior designed as a showroom. It is a "green, smart and business-educational building" featuring a 55 kW solar power plant on its roof, which is already connected to the grid of the Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS).

- This is one of the few facilities in Serbia to which all relevant technical energy-efficiency solutions are applied. Among these solutions are the application of smart electrical installations, use of heat pumps for floor heating and cooling, prevention of excess solar radiation by means of solar protectors and, most importantly, production of green kilowatts using solar panels - Dejan Jovasevic from SNE Energy explains to eKapija.

During the construction, Elektrovat overcame the problem of construction permitting by the local self-government, but it is still sorting out the issues with the Ministry of Energy.

- Although we have done everything pursuant to law, we are still waiting for the Ministry of Energy to grant the status of a privileged power producer to our solar power plant because some new provisions are still pending approval - Milosevic concludes.

SNE Energy to modernize Serbia's electrical grid

A new trend aimed at boosting the efficiency of management of city electrical grids is to get them automated. Some cities in Serbia have already launched such projects using the products offered by SNE Energy.

- During this year we have worked on significant electrical grid modernization projects, including the Smart Grid project for Elektrodistribucija Beograd (Power Supply Company Beograd) and Elektrovojvodina. Among the facilities using our equipment are Gorenje's factory in Valjevo, Grundfos factory and IT Park in Indjija, Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade, Credo's small hydroelectric power station in southern Serbia, etc. - SNE Energy Marketing Director Zarko Simeunovic says to eKapija.

SNE Energy is the only factory for producing this type of electrical equipment in Serbia. The nearest foreign factories of that kind are situated in Hungary and Turkey. For the time being, this company markets its products only in Serbia, whereas exports to SEE markets are in the pipeline.

I.M.